Excelsior making machines



July 8, 1958 F. c. FLIPPO ErAl.

EXCELSIOR MAKING MACHINES '2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 16, 1955 INVENTORS 50 0 2/ [40 m 0 M m ATTORNEY5 F. c. FLIPPO F EXCELSIOR MAKING MACHINES FiledDec. 16,1955

mill WI! "-mmmm mill I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS [fay/WW6. [Zippy AIM/10 17% Unite States Patent EXCELSIOR MAKING MACHINES Franklin Carter Flippo and Arthur Pound Flippo, Doswell, Va.

Application December 16, 1955, Serial No. 553,468

3 Claims. (Cl. 144-185) This invention relates to excelsior making machines, and more particularly to such machines for making excelsior in short lengths.

Excelsior has been used for many purposes for many years. During these years it has been standard practice to make it in eighteen inch lengths. This has proven satisfactory in the past, and all machines are designed for this length. Recently, however, a demand has arisen for much shorter excelsior. To meet this demand some manufacturers have used shorter wood blocks on the machines, but this reduces the capacity of the machine and thus increases overhead costs. It is practically impossible to cut the shavings to shorter lengths after they come from the machine due to their tendency to curl. Of course, machines could be built designed specifically to use shorter blocks but this would involve the expense of new equipment.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide means whereby existing machinery for making excelsior can be converted to cut short length excelsior while maintaining the full capacity for which the machine was designed.

A more specific object is the provision of an excelsior machine wherein the Wood blocks are cut longitudinally, as usual, and also transversely to provide excelsior having substantially shorter length, with several lengths being provided by a block of conventional size.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a novel transverse cutter for an excelsior machine to score the block transversely so that when the shaving is cut it will be divided length-wise into several pieces.

A further object is the provision of a transverse rotary cutter which, depending upon its circumference relative to the block length and the number of cutters around its periphery can produce excelsior of any given length from a block of conventional size.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description of one practical embodiment thereof, when taken in conjunction with the drawings which accompany, and form part of, this specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an excelsior machine containing the improvements of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical, transverse section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal, vertical section taken on the line 3--3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a partial top plane view of the machine;

Figure 5 is a detail view of the rotary cutter;

Figure 6 is a vertical section taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 2, illustrating the gear and rack which provide rotary motion for a knife-carrying cylinder; and

Figure 7 is a partial perspective view of the cylinder carrying the transverse cutter knives.

Referring to the drawings in detail, there is shown an excelsior machine which is conventional in most respects, but contains the improved structure of the present invention. The machine is mounted upon a suitable base 1, and the majority of the working parts are supported upon a case frame 2. Slideable gate frames 3 carry the cutters, as will be described, and are mounted in the frame and reciprocated by cranks 4, connected to the gate frames by pitman rods 5.

The gate frames are mounted between the side frames in trackways which are provided. The side frames have inwardly projecting flanges 6 at their tops to form the upper sides of the trackway. Wooden runners 7 form the actual tracks upon which the gate frames ride. The runners extend the full length of the machine and are mounted upon brackets 8 which project-inwardly from the side frames. Each bracket carries a vertically adjustable screw 9 upon which the runner rests, so that the runner may be kept in proper adjustment for free movement of the gate frames.

The gate frames are nearly the same as those of the conventional frames, in that each is made up of a pair of horizontally spaced, longitudinal members 10 bridged by groups of cross-bars 11, 12 and 13. Between the bars of each group, the various knives and slitters are mounted. it will be understood that each gate frame may be designed to operate upon a number of wood blocks, as shown in Figure l, but only one set of cutting elements is shown in the detail views.

Extending between the longitudinal members it) between each pair of cross-bar 11 and 12 is a holder 14- in which the slitter spurs 15 and the slicing knife 16 are mounted. The spurs will be mounted close together to make closely spaced slits longitudinally of the block as the gate frame is reciprocated. The slicing knife will cut off a thin pre-slit shaving from the bottom of the block on each cycle of movement of the machine. In conventional machines, this will provide a plurality of lengths of wood of small cross-section, each of which is the full length of the block.

In the present machine, rotatable, transverse cutters 3.7 are mounted in the spaces provided between the pairs of bars 12 and 13. These cutters are in the form of cylinders 18, mounted on shafts 19, supported in hangers Ztl fastened to the longitudinal side members'of the gate frames. The cylinder may be provided with any suitable anti-friction bearings, such as at 21.

At one end of the cylinder a gear 22 is mounted in order to provide rotation for the cylinder as the gate frames are moved. The gear is in mesh with a rack 23, which is secured to the side frame 2 by suitable brackets 24. The rack preferably will be made in removable sections to facilitate removal of the cutters. Thus, the rack will be stationary, and when the gate frame is reciprocated the cylinder will be caused to rotate.

The cylinder is grooved, preferably at diametrically opposite places, to provide for mounting the transverse cutting knives. It has been found that for ease of operation and for better results, the transverse cuts should be made in stages or progressively rather than a continuous cut straight across the block. This can be done by having the cutter knives in curved form so as to spiral about the cylinder, or have the blade inclined relative to the cylinder, or provide a series of short blades in staggered relation. With all of these forms, only a portion of the width of the wood is cut at one time. The drawings show the short knives 25 arranged in staggered relation. As shown in the drawings, the cylinder will be provided with a groove 26 divided into a number of short sections or portions 26 offset circumferentially of the cylinder relarive to one another so that the knives will be circumferentially spaced. Each portion of the groove is considerably wider than the knife which will be placed in it and filler blocks 27 are used behind the knives. Set screws 28 are provided to force the filler blocks into binding relation with the knives. This arrangement allows for some flexibility in knife positioning, and permits ready removal of the knives.

The blocks of wood to be out are set upon the machine between horizontally spaced rollers 29 which engage the ends of the blocks and force them down into contact with tables 30 mounted on the gate frames. The rollers 29 are journalled in bearings 31 fixed to the frame, and carry worm wheels 32 at one end. A shaft 33 extends longitudinally of the machine above the projecting ends of the rollers and carriers a plurality of worms 34 to mesh with the worm wheels 32 and rotate the rollers. Shaft 33 may be driven in any desired manner from the power plant of the machine. The arrangement of the worms and worm wheels is such that the rollers rotate in opposite directions to urge the block toward the table.

In operation, the blocks are put upon the machine and the machine started. Rollers 29 will hold the blocks against the tables and the gate frames will begin to reciprocate beneath the blocks. This will cause the slitter spurs to score the block along closely spaced, parallel, longitudinal lines and the slicing knife to cut off a thin, pre-scored, shaving from the bottom of the block. Due to the fact that the cylinders 18 will be caused to rotate by reason of the intermeshing of the gears 22 with the rack 23, the knives 25 will be brought into contact with the wood block at least once each reciprocation of the gate frame to cut into the bottom of the block transversely so that each shaving will be divided into several short sections dependingupon the number and position of the transverse knives. This arrangement is a quick and efficient manner of obtaining short excelsior with but minor changes to existing machinery.

While in the above one practical embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it will be understood that the structure shown and described is merely by Way of example and the invention may take other forms within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an excelsior making machine, a supporting frame, a gate frame reciprocably mounted in said supporting frame, means to reciprocate said gate frame, means to mount a wood block above said gate frame, slitting spurs carried by said gate frame for slitting said block longitudinally, a slicing knife carried by said gate frame for cutting thin pre-scored shavings from the bottom of said block, a cylinder rotatably mounted on said gate frame and lying transversely thereof, a knife carried by said cylinder extending lengthwise thereof, a gear carried by said cylinder, and a rack mounted on said supporting frame in mesh with said gear, whereby said cylinder will be caused to rotate when said gate frame is moved.

In an excelsior machine, a supporting frame, a gate frame mounted for horizontal reciprocation in the supporting frame, means to reciprocate'the gate frame, means to mount a wood block above said gate frame, a slicing knife carried by the gate frame in an inclined position for cutting thin shavings from the bottom of the wood block when the gate frame is moved in one direction, slitting spurs carried by the gate frame ahead of the slicing knife in said one direction for slitting the under surface of the wood block longitudinally, a cylinder mounted on the gate frame transversely thereof and ahead of the slitting spurs in said one direction, said cylinder having a transversely extending notch therein with portions of the notch being offset circumferentially of the cylinder relative to other portions, knife sections positioned in each of the respective portions of the notch, and means to hold the knife sections in place in the notch.

3. In an excelsior machine as claimed in claim 2, said notch portions being wider than the thickness of the knife section positioned therein, and said means to hold the knife sections in place comprising filler blocks behind said knives, and means to clamp said filler blocks against said knife sections.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 200,540 Jeffers Feb. 19, 1878 762,117 Battey June 7, 1904 1,020,100 Keogh Mar. 12, 1912 1,473,545 Collier Nov. 6, 1923 2,689,092 Clark Sept. 14, 1954 2,710,635 Alexander June 14, 1955 2,751,947 Wyss June 26, 1956 

